Before I turned 21, I had some Bud Light and Corona, and I thought they tasted like crap, so mostly I didn't drink beer. Once I turned 21, and had heard that beer was an acquired taste, I decided that if I was going to drink beer, I was going to drink something with flavor. I started with a Pyramid Apricot Hefeweizen, and then moved towards the darker side before moving towards IPA. Now I enjoy every style of beer (except american light lager, it still tastes like crap).

The passion started behind a wood shed with a Rainier we snuck out of my buddies dad's ice box. I was probably 10 or 11 and it was the best thing I ever tasted. After a "few" high school keggers drinking whatever swill we could get someone to buy us, Uncle Sam sent me on a round the world trip. Oh man, Kirin, Tsingtao, OB, Victoria Bitters, Spaten, Black and Tan's at the Bull and Boar, and on and on: the world is a wonderful place - there's beer in it.

Now years later I get to brew my own and have come to believe two fundamental concepts: there's no such thing as too much hops and Sir Isaac Newton didn't know squat about higher gravity...

I was a novice drinker in the very late 90s/early 2000s in college in Dallas. There wasn't really much craft beer to speak of. I usually drank Miller High Life, some 40's and the usual drink was Bud or Bud Lite. We would buy Corona if we wanted a "better" beer. I drank a lot of crappy liquor, too. I dabbled a little in the "dark beer" I could find, which was basically Bass, Fat Tire, Sam Adams, Shiner, Newcastle and Ziegenbach. I went into a store a few times that had a lot of craft beer and I bought a random mix of beers a few times. I was still too much into the idea of beer as an alcohol delivery vehicle to really appreciate them. I had Chimay Red once and really liked it.

I started buying more of the "dark beer" after college and really started to branch out from there.

When I was in college back in 89, the cafeteria would sell after 3 pm. They had Bud and a local, Formosa Dark from Formosa brewery (in the town of Formosa). I was the only one of my cohort who drank it so I drank lots, partly just to be contrary. That and John Labatt Classic which back then was Labatt's all malt premium lager. I drank Upper Canada Dark a lot too until it was bought out by Sleemans who have since been bought by Saporro

Oh, gotta mention the ORIGINAL Stonehammer from F&M. Beautifully bitter and wonderful but they backed it off to try to broaden the appeal. That was probably about 92 or so. I loved that beer and missed many a class because of it.

We paid our friends older brother for a beer chest of Hamm's Genuine Draft Light which we drank with ice. The next day we helped his brother fix a lawnmower and he gave us some Guinness Extra Stout from the fridge in the garage, probably thinking we'd hate it. I haven't drank a beer on ice since.

The very first time I went (legally) into a liquor store, I bought a six pack of Railyard Black and Tan, from the now extinct Broadway Brewing (later became flying Dog) in Denver. It was 2001, and I started brewing a year later.

The very first time I went (legally) into a liquor store, I bought a six pack of Railyard Black and Tan, from the now extinct Broadway Brewing (later became flying Dog) in Denver. It was 2001, and I started brewing a year later.

My first legal purchase was a case of mix-a-sixes. I don't remember all the beers, but I know Old Peculier and Ipswich Oatmeal Stout were in the mix.

My start was JW Dundee's Honey Brown. Guiness was in the mix too, but the true eye opener was La Trappe's Tripel. I kinda went nuts for the next few years buying and drinking anything Belgian I could find. I have since come to appreciate more of the local beers...